Sports - The Outlookhttps://outlook.monmouth.edu/sports
Sat, 06 Jun 2020 22:15:33 -0400Joomla! - Open Source Content Managementen-gboutlook@monmouth.edu (The Outlook)The Future of Sports in Post-COVID-19 Worldhttps://outlook.monmouth.edu/sports/162-volume-92-fall-2019-spring-2020/7242-the-future-of-sports-in-post-covid-19-world
https://outlook.monmouth.edu/sports/162-volume-92-fall-2019-spring-2020/7242-the-future-of-sports-in-post-covid-19-worldDuring this bizarre time of quarantining and social distancing, athletes and sports fans across the country are reeling. There are only so many times you can watch re-runs of sports games that big-time networks, such as ESPN and NFL Network, are running daily.

Everyone seems to have an opinion about when and how sports will return this summer or fall. Will society return to complete normalcy? Or will we have to wait until 2021 to fill the stands of Citi Field or even MetLife Stadium? For starters, let me just get it out there. Nobody knows. I mean nobody. Not even doctors.

Some leagues, such as Major League Baseball, are formulating plans to return in the near future. MLB is proposing to play the season in Arizona. They will get rid of the American and National League and assign teams to their spring training divisions. There will be no fans allowed, and players will stay at hotels. Since there are many empty hotels at this time in Arizona (or any state for that matter), this plan could actually work. Players will be tested regularly, but if one of the players on a team tests positive, there goes all of the plans.

To combat this issue, the MLB will allow teams to have expanded rosters, so there will be extra players that can take the place of any player that may test positive. The plan is extensive, and outlined brilliantly by ESPN baseball writer Jeff Passan in a recent article.

The big issue, and this is with any sport, is that there are so many people that are present at a sporting event, not even including the fans. Let’s start with the team. A baseball team has around ten coaches, public relations and media staff, announcers and their production team, at least two bullpen catchers, trainers and front office people that may travel with the team. Not to mention the four umpires that are present at every game.

How can MLB protect all of these individuals, pay them and play a season? While this plan for the MLB should be approved due to the desperation of sports fans and players, it is not going to be easy. Of all the different people I mentioned, their age groups vary, and some may have preexisting health conditions that make them more susceptible to the virus.

]]>s1108940@momouth.edu (KYLE SUTA | CONTRIBUTING WRITER)Volume 92 (Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)Wed, 22 Apr 2020 16:18:00 -0400No Place for Females in Sportshttps://outlook.monmouth.edu/sports/162-volume-92-fall-2019-spring-2020/7233-no-place-for-females-in-sports
https://outlook.monmouth.edu/sports/162-volume-92-fall-2019-spring-2020/7233-no-place-for-females-in-sportsHere’s the thing, a female’s place is in the kitchen, not on the field.

Why on earth would a female think that she could run, kick, or dribble a ball? The sporting world is no place for such delicate creatures. They might injure themselves and their womanhood. As a female myself, I get exhausted with the slightest physical activity, let alone competition. I would much rather stay in my house all day cleaning and awaiting my family to arrive home.

Today, we see female athletes taking to the field and the court at the highest level. Many of them want to be paid in equal proportion to their male counterparts. Why should they even get paid? How dare they think this? How do these spouses expect those men to be the breadwinners of their families if their husbands do not get paid more? How do they expect those men to make a living? It just wouldn’t be fair, to the men of course.

Along with more money, females now want to be paid to have a baby. They should not be paid for their natural duty. Their husbands can cover the bill and work as they feed, burp, and bathe the child. Instead of having dreams of returning to the game that they play, child bearers should focus on becoming proper mothers.

And it’s not just money some players complain about, some females whine about not getting adequate media coverage. You know why there is less media coverage? Because no one wants to watch a sporting event that is slower and involves less athletic individuals. Men do not want to watch female athletes tarnish the sport that they themselves play. As a female, even I know that the sports that I play are not as competitive. They are not as exciting to watch.

The Hawks were able to secure a win against Furman on Friday afternoon, 6-1.

Furman took a quick lead, but junior pitcher Alyssa Irons struck out the next three batters. In the bottom of the first, Monmouth went on a hot streak with three consecutive hits.

The Hawks secured the win in the bottom of the sixth inning with a two-run home run from senior first basemen Kayla Rosado.

Rosado went 3-for-4 with two RBI singles and the home run. She leads the team with a .500 batting average and nine RBIs this season.

“Today was a solid team win,” said Head Coach Shannon Salsburg. “Alyssa threw well and the offense did a solid job with our game plan. I was happy with the consistent effort and energy and look forward to continuing to grow tomorrow.”

Monmouth went on to split during Saturday’s matchups. The Hawks pulled off a win against Maryland Saturday afternoon, 2-1.

Junior outfielder Morgan Maziarz had a two-RBI single in the second inning, which ended up being the game-winner.

Irons pitched all seven innings, while giving up no earned runs and striking out five batters.

Friday’s nail-biter against the Red Foxes was the first overtime game of the season for the Hawks as they barely pulled out the defensive affair 65-61. It was the junior guard Ray Salnave who led the troops with a team-high 13 points on a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line as well as six rebounds.

Some of those free throws came in the clutch late in the second half to force overtime after drawing the foul on a pump fake.

“It was obvious that we needed a three to tie and I think the other player knew I was going to shoot a three,” said Salnave. “I knew I had him on his heels because I was driving at him and once he started backing up, I knew he thought I figured I would have enough room to shoot so I gave him a fake, leaned in and got the call.”

It was a very well-rounded performance for the blue and white who had two other scorers in double-figures, junior guard George Papas and junior forward Melik Martin. Papas contributed 12 points, adding five assists and three rebounds while Martin tacked on ten points and four rebounds. This was Martin’s second straight game scoring double digit points as he has been picking up his play down the stretch in the conference schedule.

The Monmouth defense kept Marist under wraps all game long allowing them to shoot only 32.7 percent from the field with only four two-point field goals in the entire game.

On Wednesday afternoon Feb. 19 the Hawks welcomed the Long Island University (LIU) Sharks and came out on top with a 20-13 win. Junior attacker Caroline Bleck scored seven goals throughout the duration of the match, which is a career-high for her. The performance earned her Offensive Player of the Week honors.

“She was really strong today and had a nose for the cage in an aggressive way,” said Head Coach Jordan Trautman. “She is somebody that we have wanted to elevate her game and have pushed her and she has been responding. Today was evidence of her stepping up and taking responsibility for some of the things she has been working on and producing in a game.”

Along with Bleck’s offensive performance, senior midfielder Rachel Mills and senior attacker Nicole Ceraso both executed hat tricks during the game. This is Ceraso’s second consecutive game scoring seven points, as well as accumulating four assists on other goals. Senior attacker Allison Turturro scored four goals against the Sharks, bringing her career total up to 99 goals.

Ceraso scored the first goal for the Hawks about thirty seconds into the first half. LIU responded with three consecutive goals, two of which were free position shots accomplished by senior midfielder Alyssa Mallery and junior attacker Rachel Masullo.

In a span of less than four minutes, Monmouth scored five goals, two by Bleck, one by Ceraso, a free position goal by Mills, and one by senior attacker Sarah Gillogly. After a back and forth of goal scoring by both teams, the first half ended with the Hawks up on the Sharks 11-8.

]]>s1108940@momouth.edu (SOPHIA GALVEZ | STAFF WRITER)Volume 92 (Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)Wed, 26 Feb 2020 12:23:42 -0500Track & Field Earns MAAC Championshiphttps://outlook.monmouth.edu/sports/162-volume-92-fall-2019-spring-2020/7195-track-field-earns-maac-championship
https://outlook.monmouth.edu/sports/162-volume-92-fall-2019-spring-2020/7195-track-field-earns-maac-championshipMen’s Track and field were crowned the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champions after their performance at the Conference Indoor Meet held in New York. The Women’s Track and Field team finished third in the MAAC Championships.

The Hawks scored 220 points and were crowned MAAC champions for the third consecutive year and also won six out of the last seven. They dominated the competition as the second-place team were still 69 points behind.

“The men’s team had a dominating performance scoring in every event to rack up 220 points,” said Head Coach Mike Nelson. “We had numerous event champions and tons of PRs and season bests. I’d also like to thank the coaching staff for all their hard work. They got their athletes ready to perform when it mattered.” Nelson also was named the Men’s Track and Field Coach of the Year, in only his first season as coach.

The Hawks totaled ten event champions, including five in the second day of the meet. Senior Kyle Mueller ran a 14:07.39 in the 5000 which was good for a new conference and school record. Mueller was also named the Men’s Co-Most Outstanding Performer of the meet.

The blue and white took the top two spots in the 800m as freshman Ian Moore finished in first with a time of 1:54.96 and sophomore Louis DiLaurenzio placed second with a time of 1:54.99. Monmouth also took home first place in the 400m as sophomore Jalen Jones ran a time of 48.38. The 4x400 team also received gold medals for their efforts this past weekend.

Junior guard George Papas was the talk of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) after scoring a career-high 32 points while draining seven shots from behind the arc in Friday night’s win. This was the second time in as many games that a MU scorer reached this mark after junior guard Deion Hammond scored 30 last week versus Saint Peter’s.

“George is one of the most incredible shooters, it doesn’t matter what level,” said head coach King Rice. “If you watch him work out, he makes them all the time. It’s a confidence thing.”

Papas hit two threes late in the second half to stretch the MU lead to seven and then later put the Golden Griffins away after scoring his 30th point to go up 15.

“George has to always think if he gets a chance to shoot its going in, and tonight he felt it and that thing was going in like it always does,” said Rice. “All credit to him, nobody works harder and he’s proved himself at this level.”

The other scorers for the blue and white in double figures on Friday night were the usuals, junior guard Ray Salnave who finished with 14 and Hammond who poured in 11. Junior forward Melik Martin and sophomore forward Nikkei Rutty tied for the team-lead in rebounds with six a piece despite the team getting out-rebounded 37-36.

]]>s1108940@momouth.edu (MARK D'AQUILA | SPORTS EDITOR)Volume 92 (Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)Wed, 19 Feb 2020 12:30:06 -0500Baseball Splits Weekend in NChttps://outlook.monmouth.edu/sports/162-volume-92-fall-2019-spring-2020/7175-baseball-splits-weekend-in-nc
https://outlook.monmouth.edu/sports/162-volume-92-fall-2019-spring-2020/7175-baseball-splits-weekend-in-ncBaseball travelled to North Carolina to open up their season this weekend as the Hawks defeated New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) on Friday by a score of 4-3, split a double-header with Bucknell winning 3-1 and losing 5-4 and fell to Penn State by a score of 14-2 on Sunday.

In their game against NJIT, Dan Klepchick got the nod to open the season. This is his second consecutive season where he was the starter on opening day. Klepchick pitched 5.2 innings of two run ball while striking out four. Monmouth was able to hold the NJIT offense to only two runs throughout 12 innings of offense during this heated affair.

After giving up an RBI double in the top of the fourth, the Hawks quickly responded in the fifth as senior outfielder J.P. Walsh drove in Monmouth’s first run of the ball game. Junior outfielder Jake Catalano answered with a two RBI double which put the Hawks in front 3-1. NJIT was able to tie the game up with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extras. The Hawks would then go on to win in the 12th via a Highlanders throwing error. This was the first time Monmouth won their opener since 2016.

In their first game against Bucknell, the Hawks wasted no time getting on the board as junior outfielder Jalen Jenkins got on base via a double and later scored. Jenkins also drove in his first run of his collegiate career in the bottom of the fifth to give the blue and white a 2-0 lead. The Hawks would hold on to the lead and win their second consecutive game.

Monmouth was unable to pull off a win in game one of the doubleheader to kick off the season against Mercer on Friday afternoon.

Senior pitcher Alyssa Irons pitched all nine innings against Mercer, not giving up a run until the eighth inning and struck out four batters.

Junior outfielder Katie Harrington sacrificed a bunt, sending junior outfielder Morgan Maziarz to third. Senior infielder Sam Tomasetti secured an RBI double, sending Maziarz home. Mercer answered in the top of the ninth with a pair of RBI singles, taking control of the game. The Hawks fell 4-1 in the end.

Monmouth took on Presbyterian Friday night and was able to come back from their loss earlier that morning, securing a win over the Blue Hose, 7-3.

Junior catcher Erika Coreth led the Hawks with two home runs, four RBI’s, and two runs.

Freshman pitcher Kyle Gletow earned her first career win, while she pitched six full innings giving up just two runs.

“Overall, it was a solid first day on the field. In game one, Alyssa threw very well, getting us into extra innings,” said head coach Shannon Salsburg. “To their credit, Mercer found a way to drop balls into slight openings in our defense, and that proved to be the difference. In game two, I thought Kylie pitched well and had a nice outing. Our defense was solid behind her, and the offense picked up from where we left off against Mercer. Erika had a huge day for us. We’re excited to get right back to it tomorrow and continue to grow.”